| At the heart of this essential documentary
is a critical and perennially relevant question:
Does it matter who is President
of the United States
when it comes to issues of war and peace?
"Fascinating." - Sara
Cardace, New York Magazine
"Captivating. Meticulous and wholly engrossing."
- Ted Fry, The Seattle Times
"Compelling. Insightful. Highly convincing."
– Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
The film employs what Harvard historian Niall Ferguson calls "virtual
history" to investigate one of the most debated "what
if" scenarios in the history of U.S. foreign policy: What would
President John F. Kennedy have done in Vietnam if he had not been
assassinated in 1963 and was instead re-elected in 1964? The examples
- the Bay of Pigs debacle, the crisis in Laos, the erection of the
Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis and two critical junctures
in managing Vietnam - are well known, as are Kennedy's actions and
what subsequently transpired under Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon
B. Johnson.
Combining footage from numerous Kennedy press conferences, in-depth
interviews and a close reading of the documentary record, the film
argues that critical decisions about the use of restraint and coercive
diplomacy often require greater acts of courage than the use of
force. Meanwhile, Kennedy’s dry wit and Masutani’s judicious
editing make the film a compelling and surprisingly entertaining
experience.
Virtual JFK takes its inspiration from Kennedy's famous
statement that "we must never negotiate out of fear, but
we must never fear to negotiate". It resonates powerfully
with audiences who are invited to draw their own conclusions from
the documentary record.
"An extended glimpse into a bygone era
of statesmanship. In Masutani's selection of clips, watching Kennedy
field astute questions and scathing critiques with thoughtfulness
and wit proves extremely illuminating; his weighing of complex factors
in an international situation and consciousness of how much rides
on his decisions strikes a now unfamiliar note." -
Ronnie Scheib, Variety
"What emerges is a complex image of a
clever, sophisticated, disciplined man whose mind remains keen under
enormous stress.” - Ted Fry, The Seattle Times
"A critical handbook for current and
aspiring world leaders."
- Sergei Khrushchev, Son of the Former Soviet Prime Minister,
Nikita Khrushchev
Director Koji Masutani is currently a Visiting Fellow at
the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University
and trained previously with cinematographer Christopher Doyle in
Hong Kong. Producer and narrator James Blight is a Professor of
International Studies at the Watson Institute for International
Studies and served as principal substantive adviser to Errol Morris
during the production of The Fog of War, winner of the 2004
Academy Award® for Best Documentary. A book of the same title,
written by the film’s producers James Blight, Janet Lang and
David Welch was published by Rowman & Littlefield on January
28, 2009.
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